Dominic Hannigan's blog

Another wet summer is upon us. Apart from putting a downer on people, it's also making driving conditions more difficult, not just because of water on the road surfaces, but because of the impact it's having on roadside vegetation.

In the last couple of weeks I've been contacted about excessive grass at roadside verges around the Beamore area and on the M1 between Dublin and Drogheda. Motorists are complaining that they can't see the road signs, because they are covered in vegetation. I've written to the National Roads Authority and to Meath County Council asking them to take action.

Unfortunately, we're smack bang in the middle of the holiday season, so I can't be sure that the necessary work will be done before the Autumn. Let's hope that accidents don't occur beacsue of inaction on the part of the authorities!

I've also had complaints from housing estates which have been taken in charge by the Council. In some estates the grass on the common areas is growing by the day and unless the residents have made arrangements for a third party to cut the grass then the likelihood is that it will remain uncut. Meath don't have a parks department in place to cut grass within estates and it's unlikely that this situation is going to change in the short term. Not the answer that a lot of poeple want to hear, but that's the reality we are in until Minister Gormley agrees to sanction a Parks Department for Meath.